The Christmas Party

Call Your Mother

It felt weird being at home tonight without the presence of the Amatos, but it was laundry night and I desperately needed to catch up on the pile that was overflowing from the hamper. Distance was probably also a healthy thing that the three of us needed to practice on occasion.

I poured myself a glass of wine, put on my sweat pants, and started to fold the massive pile of clothing. I decided that this was an ideal time to call my mother so that she wouldn't talk to Luca and harass me for not calling.

"Hi Mom," I said.

"Hi Sweetie! How are you dear?"

I smiled at my mom's enthusiasm. "I'm good. Just folding laundry. What are you up to?"

"Your father and I just finished up dinner." I heard my mom pull the phone away from her face and tell my dad he was his own for clean up since her precious daughter who never calls was on the phone. I smiled. "How was your week? How's work? How's your love life?"

I laughed again at my mom's rapid-fire questioning. "My week at work was good. You'll be happy to know that I'm actually starting to talk to people at work, not just about work related stuff."

"Well that's good! I can't believe it's taken you so long to connect with people there. You know, you've always had such a chip on your shoulder and if you would just give people a chance you might find that you like them."

I rolled my eyes, thankful my mom couldn't see me or she would smack me upside the head. "I know Mom. I'm the worst. But I did make a friend."

"Well that's good! Tell me all about them." I told Mom about my budding friendship with Jim. "Well that's great. It only took you three years, but I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, but I did it! I don't know, I've just always seen work as work and I don't really like socializing with anybody outside of work and no one will ever accept that which is how I got myself into this whole fake girlfriend mess."

"Your father is like that. He always said to me 'Jane, now why would I choose to spend more time with these people than I already do? I spend enough time with them.' You know you and your father are very similar. He didn't have a fake girlfriend, but your father always had a fake second job so he never had to do anything with his coworkers after."

I laughed but had to agree; there were too many similarities between my father and myself.

"Dad and I just don't want to be around people I guess."

"Or your select people that haven't made it into your exclusive inner circle."

I laughed out loud. "That's true."

"How is that Monica girl?" my mom asked, changing the subject.

I rubbed my eyes under my glasses. "Don't even get me started on her." I told my mom about she'd become more and more horrible since mentions of my girlfriend being real and even more annoying since the pictures appeared and Thea sending flowers.

"Thea sent you flowers to work?" My mom gushed.

"Yes, but she was only doing it to mess with Monica. I brought her flowers to mess with her ex-boyfriend that she works with too."

"So you girls are sending each other flowers and going on dates?"

"Oh my God, Mom. Not this again."

"Honey, you don't even like her just a little bit? She's very beautiful."

"I know she's beautiful Mom, but that's not the point."

"So you are attracted to her."

I stuttered, my words caught in my throat when I realized the trap I'd fallen into. I sighed in defeat. "Yes, okay, I do think she's attractive. But she's Luca's sister. That would be weird."

My mom made a noncommittal hum like she knew more than she was letting on.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"You know something."

"No I don't."

"I know when you're lying! You're all so bad at One Night Werewolf! What do you know? Is it the same thing Luca knows? Have you been talking to him again?"

"Sweetie, Luca and I talk every day."

"You what?"

"Yes we do, so just hush up. That boy misses his mother and I'm happy to fill in that roll for him. He also wants to talk about his day and tell me what's going on unlike someone."

"Oh my God, Mom I called you tonight—just to chat."

"And I'm so grateful."

"You're ridiculous."

"Back to Thea."

"What about her?"

"You're taking her to the party tomorrow night. Are you going to tell her how you feel?"

"There's nothing to say. I don't have feelings for her; just because I think someone is cute doesn't mean I want to date them."

"That's not how Luca made it sound."

"What did Luca tell you?"

"Listen sweetheart, all I'm saying is that if you're attracted to this girl and you like being around her and you have chemistry why not ask her out on a real date?"

I shook my head. "I'm not talking about this anymore."

"Okay fine. I just wanted to put that out there. It's something for you to think about."

"Mom," I said with as much conviction as I could muster. "I don't like Thea."

I almost believed myself.

"You know Sweetie, you grew up trying to make up all sorts of stories so you could sneak out and get into all sorts of trouble. I also distinctly remember being lied to about homework. I also remember the time you crashed the car."

"Okay . . . ?"

"My point is I happen to know when you're lying too."

I didn't know what to say. My mouth was opened in preparation for some clever retort that never made it to my lips.

"So sweetie, you should really think about why you're in denial. Why don't you want to date Thea?"

"Can we talk about something else, please?"

I heard the victorious smile on my mom's lips when she said, "Of course. Please just think about it.

"I'll think about it." I promised. My mind was already reeling with every interaction I'd had with Thea in the last two weeks as I tried to pinpoint the exact moment when my feelings for Thea had changed. I was in for a classic long, sleepless night of overthinking.

"Are you excited to come home? I miss you," My mom said.

"I just saw you, what, three weeks ago?"

"Can a mother not miss her daughter? You live so far away from your mother now."

"I only live three hours away and I visit you at least once a month. That's way closer and much more frequent than during college."

"That was different. You just had to move away from your mother and get your fancy big girl job at that fancy design company, didn't you?" my mom teased.

"Would you rather I still be unemployed and living at home?"

"Yes, because then we could hang out all the time."

I laughed. "Mom you're ridiculous and I can't wait to see you."

We lapsed into a silence and I thought about everything we talked about this evening. My thoughts kept circling back to Thea.

"Hey Mom?"

"Yes Sweetie?"

"Thanks for inviting Luca and Thea home for Christmas. They always spend it alone in their apartment and I think they'll be happy to spend it in a big house with a big family this year."

"We're more than happy to have them, you know that."

"I know. It's just really sweet of you, especially to invite Thea. I know you've never met her."

"I've spoken to her plenty of times on FaceTime."

"What?"

"Yeah, when Luca FaceTimes me he always makes Thea hop on the phone when she's home. I like to think I know her pretty well."

"What the hell?" I muttered to myself.

"Your friends are better at keeping in touch with your mother than you are."

"Luca is making me look bad."

"He is."

I shook my head. "I'll see you on Monday then."

"I'll see you Monday, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too Mom."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting! You guys are seriously the best! I know this chapter was kind of dud, but I had to write something today and I truly had no idea what to write... So here's a conversation between Louise and her mom. I always forget to call my mom and she gives me a hard time about it.

I've mentioned the game One Night Werewolf before this chapter. Have any of you played? It's my family's favorite party game and definitely worth buying if you have at least 5 people to play with.

Cheers!